Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $195.21 and last traded at $194.54, with a volume of 11815951 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $186.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after buying an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.